73 DE WB7RSG :-)

Wow, outstanding! Honest to god back of the envelope microwave engineering! Well done. You must do this for a living.

3. A parabolic reflector made of aluminum,.... No, a parabola focuses to a point, to redirect the beam, you need a very flat metal reflector, like a passive microwave repeater http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_repeater but smaller to work at millimeter wave. 4. Standing behind a large piece of sheet metal... Aluminum foil should be plenty, skin depth in aluminum would be close to zero, and the energy would be effectively reflected, not dissipated, it wouldn't get hot.

Explain to me why common aluminum foil would not reflect this "heat ray" away. A protest sign covered in foil would make an efficient shield, and a foil hat with a fine copper mesh veil would let you look at them and laugh. This is hardly a high tech countermeasure. The engineers that work on this can't be stupid enough to have not considered this. There's a lot of money involved, so facts can be suppressed in favor of profits. If you could make a very flat reflector, to keep the reflected beam width narrow, you could redirect the beam at any other target you choose. It should be pretty obvious where the beam is coming from, your reflector is essentially a mirror. Think about how a signaling mirror works, it's easy to aim the reflected sun at a rescue airplane, it might be just as easy to cook the officer standing next to the emitter.

Actually, it's the current, working system. Space Weather has a nice link to a receiver that lets you listen to the echos from stuff flying through the fence http://spaceweatherradio.com/ Or you can do it your self....If you're within several hundred miles of Lake Kickapoo, Texas, and have a receiver that can hear 216.98 MHz, you can hear the echos of things flying through the fence... Big fun if you're a radio nerd :-)

OK, I'll be the fat old white guy that keeps getting beaten for flipping off the screws.... save me a few crumbs.

I think you misunderstand my method a bit..... No real spook would make a scene, they would try to escape at the first hint of trouble. I plan to call almost no attention to myself. My intent is to sit quietly in the corner (back to the wall), drink my purchased coffee and work with the laptop. Most of my internet traffic will be via VPN, with a few encrypted attachments sent through GMail from time to time. If approached, I will immediately power off the computer, collect up my cell phones and prepare to leave, while having as little contact with who ever approaches me as possible. If they demand to see my computer, I will eject the SD chip, surrender the computer to them, and depart without any argument or explanation, if they demand the SD chip I will attempt to destroy it. If they try to detain me, I will ask if they are sworn law enforcement officers, if they are not, I will leave. If they are sworn officers I will repeatedly ask if I am free to go, if I am arrested I will instantly demand a lawyer and answer no questions at all..... Yes, I intend to waste as much of their time as possible. I've used similar tactics before, and I've been arrested for it, several times. I will never post any bail, I have plenty of time for them to waste. I've been held for as long as 4 days for passing out pamphlets in front of our county courthouse, I'm not allowed to discuss the terms of the settlement. When I troll for pigs, I'm very careful to give them no excuse for their behavior, at all. I have the time to mess with them, so I will. My behavior protects honest working people by keeping these idiots busy. Most of the idiots in the field are far too stupid to catch real terrorists, messing with me is far safer for them, a real terrorist might hurt them..... And I do have a Geiger counter too, but that's a different hobby..... My digital camera hobby is more fun, cops hate to have their picture taken. The whole key to getting away with this tactic is having a perfectly clean criminal record, cash in the bank, and lawyers on retainer.... most cop intimidation tactics don't work on me..... in my 50 years, they have never been able to stick anything on me, I'll rot in jail before I take any plea deal, or pay any bail.

I actually intend to do this with a "squeaky clean" Dell netbook with a fresh install of Ubuntu in it...... My SD chip will be full of encrypted pictures of trees and flowers and birds and mountains..... I've been to jail before for doing this sort of thing, it ain't that bad...... I'm just a nobody, even if they torture me, there isn't much I could tell them....... again, will one of you please come bail me out?

This is a nice list of things to use as bait to find out if you're being watched. I think it's time to get out my netbook, and head for the local coffee shops. If I'm approached, I'll immediately turn off the netbook, eject the SD chip, and break it with my pocket multi tool...... will one of you please come bail me out?

OK, let’s try a simple example. A passenger has a cheap FM broadcast receiver. This receiver’s intermediate frequency is 10.7 MHz. The receiver utilizes “high side” injection so its local oscillator frequency is 10.7 MHz higher than the operating frequency. The FM broadcast band is from 88 to 108 MHz, this puts the LO in the 98.7 to 118.7 MHz range. The aircraft navigation band is from 108 to 118 MHz with ILS signals at the bottom of the band and VOR signals all over the band. The broadcast receiver radiates a portion of its local oscillator energy, this is very hard to avoid. The LO appears to the navigation receiver as an interfering carrier. The broadcast receiver is very close to the navigation receiver, the navigation beacon is many miles away, the inverse square law of radio propagation is not your friend, the shielding will not help you, there is an antenna on the navigation receiver, and the LO signal will escape to get into the navigation receiver. This example is very simple, and uses dirt common equipment. There are an untold number of consumer devices that could radiate unintentional, unexpected, signals in navigation and communication bands. When I’m flying, I can see all my passengers, and I can insist that they do as I say or get the hell out of my airplane , a commercial pilot can’t keep track of a whole bus load of people.

Exactly. Thinking about disasters is the first step in dealing with them. What's important? How do you establish contact with the rest of your family? How do you get home? Will you have food? Will you have water?Do you need electricity? Will you freeze in the cold? Do you need medication to stay alive? In our case, in Northwestern Oregon, we have a plan for all of this, we are expecting the "big one" anytime after right now. You will not be able to depend on any public infrastructure, don't bet on any telephone working for a few days, and plan on it being dark at night. Our family has a plan to contact each other using ham radio, and our home has backup power with enough diesel to last at least a week. With power, we can run our well, water is good! If I'm at work, I'll drive toward home as far as I can, and then walk, it's only 16 miles from work to home. We are armed, competent and willing to kill to defend our selves...... Better living through ham radio, "Radio" was the first merit badge I got. Knowing about radio, and industrial equipment in general has served me well all my life. The things you know will save you..... learn about radio, learn to weld, learn to work on engines, learn to fly, learn to scuba dive, build model rockets, learn about shooting, learn about horses, learn to run a chainsaw, learn every thing you can..... every geek skill you can get will help you to learn to think in a disaster.

Actually, you're right...... claiming that I'd abandon my post after the "Big One" was mostly to make management think about how much they really needed to "bank away" for disasters, that's what drills are for. In truth, my wife and child are as capable of caring for themselves as I am. We are capable of establishing communications after the disaster without any need for any equipment that we don't control ourselves...... Better living through ham radio! In Oregon, if you haven't got a plan, in the back of your head, for when the big one hits, I have no sympathy or use for you. I'm working for a semiconductor manufacturer now..... when I feel the first jiggle, I'm sprinting for the door, when I worked for the government, I'd have stayed...... and complained about it later.

Believing that they can depend on the loyalty of their underlings, allows management to get away with reducing staff and spending less on emergency preparedness. This is also true in other fields like ambulance crews, fire fighters, cops, and even down to the technical support staff. I worked for a city government agency that supported radio communications for public safety. When we did drills for the "Big One" it was just assumed that the support staff would work 24 hours a day until they dropped dead. They were not amused when I pointed out that when the big quake comes, I will care far less about a point to point microwave links than I will care about my family. At the beginning of the "drill" I explained that I'd be back after I checked on my wife and kid..... see you tomorrow.